Dhaka, Bangladesh – As Rubel Chaklader drove his autorickshaw through the busy Dhaka traffic in late January, he sounded more resigned than angry.The 50-year-old said that Bangladeshis had squandered what he saw as a rare opening after an uprising in August 2024 toppled longtime leader Sheikh Hasina, ending her 15-year rule marked by allegations of authoritarianism, crackdown on opponents and widespread rights abuses.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listThree days after the student-led protests forced Hasina to resign, Muhammad Yunus, Bangladesh’s only Nobel laureate, took over as the country’s interim leader, tasked with stabilising a fractured country after one of its bloodiest upheavals that killed more than 1,400 people.Yunus, now 85, framed his mandate narrowly but ambitiously: restore a credible electoral process, and build consensus around reforms aimed at preventing a return to authoritarian rule by balancing power among different state institutions.And that’s where Chaklader thinks the various vested interest groups – officials inside the administration and polarised political parties – failed to support Yunus enough to deliver more substantial changes during his 18 months of rule as an interim leader.“We missed the opportunity,” Chaklader told Al Jazeera. “We didn’t let Dr Yunus work properly. Who didn’t come to the streets with unreasonable demands from him? This country will never be good. People gave their lives in July for nothing.”His weary assessment came as Yunus prepares to leave office after p …
